Many younger U.S. adults skipping flu shots -report

(Reuters) - Just over a third of U.S. adults ages 18 to 65
got the flu shot during the 2012-2013 flu season, according to
an analysis released on Tuesday, and if that trend holds for the
current flu season, many adults may be at risk.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, the most prevalent flu strain this season is H1N1 -
the strain that emerged in 2009 and particularly afflicts
otherwise healthy children and young adults.

Flu is now widespread in 35 states, according to the CDC.
Rates are particularly high in 13 states, mostly in the South
and Southwest: Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana,
Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina,
Oklahoma, Texas and Utah.

"The trend of low vaccination rates among younger adults is
particularly troubling this year, when they are more at risk
than usual for the effects of the H1N1 strain of flu that's
circulating," said Jeffrey Levi, executive director of Trust for
America's Health, the nonprofit health advocacy group that
released the latest findings.

The analysis found that overall, 45 percent of all
Americans got a flu shot during the 2012-13 season, the most
recent period for which full season data are available. That was
up slightly from 41.8 percent in the 2011-12 season.

But among U.S. adults aged 18-64, only 35.7 percent got a
flu shot during the 2012-2013 flu season. That compared with
56.6 percent of children age 6 months to 17 years and 66.2
percent of seniors 65 and older who were vaccinated during
2012-2013.

Among U.S. states, vaccination rates were highest last
season in Massachusetts at 57.5 percent, and lowest in Florida
at 34.1 percent. Only 12 states had vaccination rates of 50
percent or higher: Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Maryland,
Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Carolina, Rhode
Island, South Dakota and Tennessee.

The CDC recommends all American 6 months and older get
vaccinated each year.